


My Girl

by Ragdoll_Ren (NellieSly)



Series: Patchwork-verse [1]
Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: All Kinds of Love, Amicable Exes, Canon Compliant, Canon Era, F/F, Fluff, Gallows Humor, Gen, Love, Marriage Proposal, References to Illness, cheesy lesbians, good parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 08:44:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13700970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NellieSly/pseuds/Ragdoll_Ren
Summary: Takes place in 1982-Valentine's Day, 1983. Cordelia and Charlotte propose to each other, and the rest of the tight-knit family prepares for the wedding.





	My Girl

**Author's Note:**

> This is my (belated) Valentine's Day love letter to this fandom. The pictures Jason takes are briefly mentioned in my other Falsettos/Stranger Things crossover fic, Patchwork, but this can be read on its own.

It all started when Cordelia tried to bake a ring into a cupcake.

_A_ cupcake. But the recipe made a dozen, and she promptly forgot which one had the ring in it. “C’mon, Char, have one more,” Cordelia pleaded, staring hard at the cupcakes that remained on the platter. “ _This_ one.”

“Why don’t we save the rest for tomorrow, hmm?” Charlotte drew her lips closer to her lover’s ear. “I can think of something I’d _rather_ have for dessert. . .”

To her surprise, Cordelia paid no attention to the innuendo. “Oh, forcryingoutloud,” she muttered as she stuck a finger through the chocolate cake, fishing around. At last, she grasped the ring triumphantly, like the sword pulled from the stone. “Will you marry me?”

Tears sprang to Charlotte’s eyes. Whether they were tears of laughter or joy was impossible to tell. “Of course!”

\----

One morning a few weeks later, just before they kissed goodbye, Charlotte told Cordelia she’d have a surprise waiting for her when she got home. But before Cordelia could get her to spill the details, she was out the door.

When she got back that evening, their small apartment was filled with soft light. From some hidden corner, a cassette player clicked on.

“ _I’ve got sunshine, on a cloudy day_ ,” the recording crooned. Charlotte emerged, holding an imaginary microphone and mouthing the words. “ _When it’s cold outside, I’ve got the month of May. . . I guess, you’d say, what can make me feel this way?_ ” She fell to her knees theatrically, revealing a ring box from behind her back.

The rest of the song was drowned out by Cordelia’s squeals.

Once she’d come back to Earth, she said, “But _I_ proposed to _you_! And you already said yes!”

“That’s the surprise, my love. Now we each have a ring,” Charlotte replied, followed by a long kiss.

\----

In the months that followed, everyone had become intensely invested in party planning – although it took a while to convince Cordelia she shouldn’t have to work to cater her own wedding. Eventually, alternative catering services were arranged. A venue was booked. (Incidentally, it was the same hotel ballroom where Jason would have had his bar mitzvah. Marvin and Mendel each bribed nearly every employee – both unaware the other had done the same thing – to ensure no one said anything crass about the not-legally-binding interracial lesbian wedding that was going to take place under their roof. Their whole ragtag band was undoubtedly unconventional, but their money was good.)

The date neared, and more things slowly fell into place. But Trina was determined that “her boys” would have new outfits for the occasion. “None of you have anything to wear that matches the color scheme they picked,” she said. All three of them groaned, predictably, like the adolescents they were. (Even though only Jason had that excuse.)

Nevertheless, they obliged, and had spent three hours (and counting) at two different department stores. Marvin sat outside of the fitting rooms with Jason and Trina, waiting for Mendel to try on yet another bright violet suit. “Can we hurry this up? My time is precious, you know,” he jokingly remarked.

“You wasted eleven years’ worth of my time, I’ll waste another hour of yours,” Trina shot back lightly.

“You’re the mother of my child, Trin,” his voice was suddenly quiet and sincere, “That’s not a waste. Have I ever thanked you for that?”

She cupped the side of his face in her hand – and tried not to think about how much thinner it was since the last time she’d done that. “Where was that attitude in 1979?”

Marvin smiled and shook his head, surprised at how fast the conversation had turned maudlin – had he been the one to do that? “Really, though, I could drop dead in the middle of this store at any moment!”

“Oh, that would be just like you, you big drama queen, you always have to be the center of attention. . .”

He was glad they’d resumed their lighthearted banter. “Hey, only I get to make fun of me. It’s no fun when you do it. Besides, I’m the one who’s dying.”

Jason had been listening to them and was quickly agitated. “Could you _not do this?_ ”

Apparently Marvin had hit a nerve. He led Jason gently by the shoulder to an empty fitting stall where they could talk in private. “What’s wrong, kiddo?”

“It’s just,” he paused to swipe at his eye, “like, you joking about dying and stuff. I don’t wanna think about it, okay?” He stared at the multicolored flecks in the tile, willing himself to be distracted.

“Look at me, hey,” he lifted Jason’s chin a little, “I’m sorry. I’ll cut it out. And I’ve actually been feeling great lately, really. I’m ready to embarrass the hell out of you at this wedding with my sweet dancing ––” he demonstrated with a particularly dorky disco move.

Jason laughed, thank God. There was no better sound in the world to Marvin’s ears. He wrapped him in a tight hug – _he had hit a growth spurt, Lord, he was getting so grown up, when did that happen?_ – and they went to find Trina and Mendel in the checkout line.

\----

By the time the wedding rolled around – Valentine’s Day, how cliché. But Cordelia and Charlotte deserved it, Jason thought – the department store incident was more or less at the back of his mind. Marvin had kept his promise and cut back on the morbid, self-deprecating humor. Plus, he had more important things to think about now, as one of the Men of Honor _and_ the official wedding photographer. He used almost three whole rolls of film documenting the whole night – the flowers, the cake, the (terrible, but kind of hilarious, even he had to admit) dance battle between Mendel and Marvin – but he captured the two best shots during Charlotte and Cordelia’s first dance. They were the only two on the dance floor, both grinning ear to ear as the lights twinkled overhead, swaying in each others’ arms to “their song” –

_I’ve got sunshine, on a cloudy day. . ._


End file.
